Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 16 November 2011

  

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda
Wednesday, November 16, 2011

 

When we speak of showing actual proof, it doesn't mean we have to try to put on a show of being in any way more knowledgeable or accomplished than we are. It is my hope that, in the manner that best suits your situation, you will prove the validity of this Buddhism by steadily improving in your daily life and in polishing your character, as well as in your family, place of work and community.

 

 

  

 

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Wednesday, November 16, 2011

 

Thus it seemed that I could not possibly escape with my life. Whatever the design of the heavenly gods in the matter may have been, every single steward and Nembutsu believer worthy of the name kept strict watch on my hut day and night, determined to prevent anyone from communicating with me. Never in any lifetime will I forget how under those circumstances you, with Abutsu-bo carrying a wooden container of food on his back, came in the night again and again to bring me aid.

 

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 932
The Sutra of True Requital 
Written to the lay nun Sennichi on July 28, 1278

 

 

 

 

Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
Wednesday, November 16, 2011

 

The real essence and practice of humanism is found in heartfelt, one-to-one dialogue. Be it summit diplomacy or the various interactions of private citizens in different lands, genuine dialogue has the kind of intensity described by the great twentieth-century humanist and philosopher Martin Buber as an encounter "on the narrow ridge" in which the slightest inattention could result in a precipitous fall. Dialogue is indeed this kind of intense, high-risk encounter.

 

 

 

Daisaku Ikeda – A Youthful Diary (1951) p. 101

 

Those absorbed only in their personal affairs cannot achieve anything great.  Without developing ourselves, however, it would be equally impossible to achieve anything of importance.  In Buddhism, there is no such thing as sacrifice. With the goal of attaining enlightenment, we strive for kosen-rufu, and awakening to our mission for kosen-rufu enables us to attain Buddhahood.